The waiver, issued Friday, comes less than a month after Trump signed the Graham Act into law and about a week after the administration’s diesel deal with Russia.

  • The Graham Act, signed into law on Sept. 18, authorized sanctions, restrictions and duties targeting Russia and certain foreign persons and countries.
  • The law also allows the president to waive those measures if he certifies to Congress that doing so is in the national interest of the U.S.
  • Trump’s Oct. 16 executive order invokes that authority, stating that he has submitted the required certification and report to Congress.

President Donald Trump has waived the application of new Russia-related sanctions and tariffs authorized under the recently enacted Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act.

The waiver, issued Friday, comes less than a month after Trump signed the Graham Act into law and about a week after the administration’s diesel deal with Russia.

Trump Waives New Russia Tariffs

The Graham Act, signed into law on Sept. 18, authorized sanctions, restrictions and duties targeting Russia and certain foreign persons and countries. The law also allows the president to waive those measures if he certifies to Congress that doing so is in the national interest of the U.S.

Trump’s Oct. 16 executive order invokes that authority, stating that he has submitted the required certification and report to Congress. The president waived the application of duties provided under key sections of the Graham Act, as well as several sanctions and restrictions targeting foreign persons.

However, the order leaves a framework in place for potentially steep tariffs on Russian goods and countries that continue to buy Russian energy or facilitate sanctions evasion.

The waiver will remain in effect until Trump or the Secretary of State, in consultation with other senior officials, determines that further action is appropriate.

Existing Russia-related sanctions imposed under earlier executive orders have been kept in place.

Trump Sets Up Sweeping Russia Tariff Structure

Trump’s executive order also laid out a sweeping tariff structure that could be activated against Russia and countries involved in Russian energy trade.

The order calls for a 500% ad valorem duty on goods from Russia, subject to exceptions in the Graham Act and the waivers issued by Trump.

It also provides for an additional 100% tariff on goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas if those countries knowingly make new purchases of Russian-origin crude or natural gas on or after Oct. 18.

The order directs the U.S. Trade Representative, working with the State, Treasury and Energy departments, to monitor Russian oil and gas purchases and sanctions evasion and regularly report developments to Trump.

Crude Oil Prices Hit Five-Month High

Crude oil prices rose last week, with the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures expiring in November rising 10.88% to $101.84 a barrel after a 0.81% gain the week before. Brent crude futures expiring in December rose 4.91% this week, hovering around $109.69 a barrel after a 2.42% increase the week before.

The United States Oil Fund ETF (USO) rose about 3% on Friday, while the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (UCO) gained more than 4%.

During the after-hours session on Friday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, fell 0.26%; the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) edged lower by 0.27%; and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) declined 0.21%. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits toward the S&P 500 ETF was in the ‘bearish’ territory at the time of writing.

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